|
As far as the RFC/RNAS/RAF went, squadrons in the range 1 to 200 were basically RFC squadrons and numbers were assigned to regular units.
No 201 to 299 were regular RAF squadrons, many being old RNAS units. (Confusingly, ex-RNAS Wings had 60 added to their number, ie 1 Wing RNAS became 61 Wing RAF)
No 300 to 399 were allocated to Allied squadrons (Polish, Czech etc) but not all numbers were used and some numbers were allocated to outfits in India.
No 400 to 499 were RCAF, RAAF and RNZAF squadrons operating under RAF control.
No 500 to 599 were originally for Special Reserve squadrons.
No 600 to 699 were for Auxiliary Air Force squadrons but many numbers were allocated to wartime squadrons.
No 700 to 799 were Fleet air Arm second-line squadrons.
No 800 to 899 were Fleet Air Arm first-line squadrons.
No 900 to 999 were barrage balloon squadrons.
The sole exception was No 1435 Squadron which was created on 2 August 1942 at Luqa in Malta. The number had been used by and RAF Flight, also based in Malta but which had been disbanded and it seems that when a new squadron was formed using the Flight's Spitfires, they "inherited" the Flight number as well.
Source: The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force by James J Halley.
Graeme
|